COLUMBUS — In celebration of partnership, the end of Ramadan and the approaching 83rd anniversary of the Republic of Turkey, members of the Turkish National Police force and their educational partners, which included Kent State, assembled at the Scioto Country Club in Columbus.

Speakers such as Ohio Attorney General Jim Petro, Kent State Provost Paul Gaston and Chief of Turkish National Police, Governor Gokhan Aydiner, came together to share their experiences with their educational partners, families and friends.

The Turkish National Police force first sent members to Kent State in 1999 and has been working on a partnership between themselves and various academic institutions in the United States for more than six years, and invited those partners to share in their end of Ramadan feast last night.

But more than a sharing of Turkish food, the various partners shared laughter, communication and, more importantly, a heightened sense of togetherness and family.

“Until we come together, we will never defeat this thing we call global terrorism,” said Kenneth Morckel, director of the Department of Public Safety in Ohio, on the partnership between the various organizations with the Turkish National Police.

The initiative first began in 1999, members of the Turkish National Police force, who were enrolled in graduate study at Kent State, approached Director of Ohio Law Enforcement and the chief of the Kent State Police Department John Peach to introduce themselves and explain their purpose behind coming to Kent State.

“I have no doubt this is divinely inspired,” Peach said. “It has been seven years of a deepening relationship [and …] has created a goodness in the hearts of everyone involved for each other.”

While the initial Kent State group of Turkish National Police officers consisted of only three, the number has grown this fall to 16 – two of which are pursuing master’s degrees in the criminal justice field, and 14 in the doctorate field.

“This association has been very instrumental so far,” said Mustafa Özgüler, chief of police for the Turkish National Police force. “We are practitioners and now we are becoming academicians.”

Among the other guests of the evening were Kent State Board of Trustees Chair Sandra Harbrecht, City of Kent Police Chief James Peach and President of the Ohio Association of Chiefs of Police, Gary Vest.

Guest chef for the evening, Fatia Gunal, prepared a range of delicacies for those who attended, including falafel, igaraborek, gyro, shish kekab and a dessert of baklava and other foods.

And as guests became immersed in the food and the conversations, other partners from Michigan State and the University of Louisville, came to share their experiences on working with the Turkish National Police force – all agreed that the partnership was incredibly successful and the Turkish participants were consummate professionals and had now become an extended part of the partners’ families.

“There are very important gains [from this program],” Gaston said. “First, they are very sophisticated, serious and knowledgeable students, second, we gain a window on one of the most critical areas in the worlds, and third, we gain friendships between and institutions.”

Contact news correspondent Shelley Blundell at [email protected].